GBJHA has been working on an arrangement with ReBound at PediCare down the street from the Rinks to act as our medical consultant for concussion management, including ImPACT testing. It just became official at the end of last week. We will have the players go there, as teams, to take the ImPACT test. Although we would have liked to have had this in place a little earlier, all the pieces have recently come together very nicely for what should be a great program for the health and safety of our children.

We will be making a more detailed announcement in a couple days once all the logistics are in place. After that, players should be getting a notification with their teams to take the test at the PediCare office. It is hoped that all of this should take place in the next two weeks. All Squirt and up will be asked to get baseline testing, even if they did it last year. This will allow for standardized testing and results throughout GBJHA.
Meanwhile, please note the following 5 R’s regarding managing a concussion should your player suffer one:

Following an injury, if the athlete is not stable, an ambulance should be called for safe transport to the emergency room.

If the athlete is stable, then the parent should contact their child's physician and follow their doctor's emergency protocol. If their doctor cannot see them emergently, then the child should be evaluated in the emergency room.

After the child has been seen emergently, they should then be seen by a physician with experience in concussion management including neurocognitive screening (eg. ImPACT testing), ideally by the third day post-injury. If their physician does not offer this, the child can come to ReBound at PediCare and the doctors will manage their care as consultants (including Rest at Home, Return to School and Return to Play, etc) and will send all records to their private doctor to keep them informed.

Players will be allowed to return to play only with permission from an appropriate health care professional. (Because not all health care professionals are experienced in concussion management, we would suggest a more objective and standardized documentation of the athlete’s recovery before return to play. Ideally, ImPACT scores that remain at baseline after the “5 Stages RTP” evaluation demonstrate that the athlete is ready for return to sports.) The note from the latter should be given to the player’s coach who will forward it to me.

Finally, regarding equipment, please remember that it should be properly fitted and worn correctly. If it is not, then it does not matter what its quality. It may not do the job it was designed to do.

Should you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate in contacting me.